Having earned an architecture degree from Florida A&M University, John Ojo is familiar with designing buildings.
Now the 28-year-old product of Tallahassee, Fla., has designs on rebuilding a pro football career that was interrupted by injury in 2016.
Ojo, who last played a game in 2015, has signed a two-year contract with the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders.
“I knocked the rust off by training and staying focused on the game,” the 6-foot-3, 210-pound cornerback said from Tallahassee. “I know it has been a couple of years since I’ve been active, but I’ve healed more — and (the time away) has given me more time to get used to my body and shake some of that rust off that I had in 2016.
“It’s a good opportunity to play again and get back to how I was in 2015.”
Ojo was pretty good that season while playing for the Edmonton Eskimos.
He was named a West Division and CFL all-star after registering 41 tackles and five interceptions — one of which he returned 57 yards for a touchdown — in 18 regular-season games. He added five tackles in two playoff games as the Eskimos drove to a Grey Cup title.
But things went awry for Ojo during Edmonton’s training camp in 2016. During a practice June 13, he ruptured his right Achilles tendon and was lost for the season.
“The pain was pretty excruciating when it first happened,” Ojo recalled. “It’s not something I had ever gone through before. I have been injured before, but not to that extent.
“I looked at it as a challenge,” he added. “I like having challenges, so it was something that I knew I could come back from. I just knew it would take some time.”
Ojo went to rehab every day during the 2016 season in hopes of getting himself ready for a comeback. He was confident in his ability to recover because he had overcome injuries before — and he was in fact ready for the 2017 campaign.
Ojo signed with the NFL’s New York Jets in April of that year, but was waived in early May. He noted that his release was based on the numbers of DBs the Jets had and wasn’t a result of any lingering effects from his Achilles injury.
He didn’t play at all in 2017 and, in fact, used the season to get himself in even better shape.
“I think I’m back to how I was before,” Ojo said. “It just took some time. That two years off gave me the benefit of recovering a lot more than I would have in one year.”
The timing of his comeback might be perfect, too, considering that the Roughriders have an opening in their secondary.
Kacy Rodgers II, who started at cornerback in each of the past two seasons, signed this off-season with the Jets. If Ojo can win the job in training camp, he’ll become another veteran in a secondary that already features corner Jovon Johnson, halfbacks Crezdon Butler and Ed Gainey and safeties Marc-Olivier Brouillette, Mike Edem and Jeff Hecht.
“The opportunity is there now that Kacy has left, so that does make it attractive,” said Ojo, who has trained with Rodgers in the past after the two were teammates in Edmonton. “But I look forward to the competition as well.”
There’s another reason why Ojo is looking forward to joining the Roughriders.
His head coach in Edmonton was Chris Jones, who became Saskatchewan’s head coach, general manager and vice-president of football operations shortly after helping the Eskimos win the 2015 CFL title.
“It’s an excellent opportunity to work with Coach Jones again,” said Ojo, who credited Jones with teaching him the nuts and bolts of press coverage. “He’s a wonderful coach. I learned a lot from him and I expect to learn even more from him during this upcoming season.”
Ojo began his college career at Florida A&M studying engineering, but its heavy workload didn’t mesh well with his football aspirations. He moved over to architecture and eventually got his degree in that field.
He designed a few buildings and worked on some other projects in the days before his pro football career began. During his year off in 2016, he decided to pursue his master’s degree in facility management at Florida A&M.
“Looking towards the future, if football doesn’t play out as a long-term deal, then I would fall back on (the master’s degree),” said Ojo, who will have two classes left to take after the current semester ends. “I thought it would be a good addition to my resumé.”
His studies could be put to the test when he arrives in Regina and sees Mosaic Stadium, the newest facility in the CFL.
“With my architectural background, I think (examining the stadium) is something I would do naturally just walking through it,” Ojo said with a chuckle. “It’ll be exciting to see. But I’m sure the stadium was built to perfection, so I probably won’t critique it too much.”
